Birthday Cake Protein Bars

You will love this homemade birthday cake protein bars recipe! They are no bake, vegan friendly, gluten free friendly and nut free. They come together in minutes in one bowl ~ mix, press in a pan and chill. These birthday cake flavored DIY protein bars are sure to become a favorite healthy breakfast or treat.

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Does anyone else still love birthday cake flavor? I think some of my taste buds are solidly stuck in the childhood years, because I love it as much as my girls do! My funfetti ice cream is a recipe that gets made on repeat, but I also happen to adore the flavor in a protein bar.

This birthday cake bar recipe is made with oats and with protein powder, bringing a nice punch of protein to these no bake, homemade protein bars. If you've been around two sugar bugs for any length of time you know how much I love to pack extra protein and nutrition into breakfast items. My peanut butter oat banana bread and peanut butter donuts are both good examples of that.

why you will love these birthday cake protein bars

• Easy prep! The bars come together in about 10 minutes in one bowl.
• No baking required! Mix, press in the pan and chill.
• Budget friendly! I will admit that I enjoy One Protein Bars and Good Snacks Birthday Cake Bars, but at $2 plus per bar they are hard on my grocery budget! DIY homemade protein bars are much more cost effective.
• Minimal ingredients! Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on store bought protein bars? It's usually l.o.n.g. This protein bar recipe has eight ingredients and you can pronounce all of them.

ingredients needed for these nut free bars

• Sunflower seed butter ~ to keep these birthday cake bars nut free I use a sunflower seed butter. If being nut free is not a concern for you, cashew butter and almond butter would be the next best choices. Use a natural "drippy" nut butter that just contains nuts {and salt}.
• Maple syrup ~ brings the sweetness and also helps to bind the bars together. Using maple syrup is also a vegan friendly ingredient. Use a pure maple syrup.
• Vanilla ~ helps to bring the birthday cake flavor to the homemade protein bars.
• Almond ~ The almond extract helps to bring the birthday cake flavor to the recipe.  If you absolutely cannot stand almond extract, you can substitute it with vanilla, but will lose a little of the birthday cake flavor.  I use Cook's Pure Almond extract, which is made from the pits of peaches and apricots and produced in an allergen free facility.  If you have a nut allergy, please do your own research if the almond extract is safe for you to use.
• Oat flour ~ make your own by pulverizing quick oats. It takes about a minute in a food processor or high powered blender. If you need the bars to be gluten free, make sure your oats are gluten free. You can also substitute an oat flour.
• Vanilla protein powder ~ the protein powder is a prominent flavor in the finished protein bars, so make sure you use a vanilla protein powder that you enjoy! To keep the bar recipe vegan I use a vegan protein powder such as Trader Joe's Vanilla Pea Protein Powder or Sprouts Vegan Vanilla Protein Powder.
• Ground flaxseed ~ to add some more protein and nutritional value.
• Sprinkles ~ use your favorite. If you are looking to avoid food dyes, opt for sprinkles that are naturally dyed such as this brand.

how to make your own oat flour

Place the quick oats into a food processor {my Cuisinart Mini Prep works perfectly for this task} or high powered blender and pulse several times until the oats reach a fine, flour like consistency. The finer the oats are ground will give you the best protein bar texture.

how to make these easy birthday cake protein bars

First line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Then in a bowl mix together the sunflower seed butter and maple syrup until fully combined.  Next add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix again until the mixture is smooth.

Now add the protein powder, ground flaxseed and ground oat flour and mix until just a little flour/protein powder is still showing.  Then add in ¾ of the sprinkles and mix until a thick dough has formed.

Finally press the birthday cake protein bar mixture into the prepared loaf pan in an even layer. Press FIRMLY into the pan. Then sprinkle the top with the remaining sprinkles, lightly pressing them into the homemade protein bars. Chill for a minimum of one hour.

how to store these vegan protein bars

Once the bars have chilled and been sliced, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. We eat through them quickly, so I haven't tested freezing them, but don't see why that wouldn't work.

The longer the bars chill, the more solid or firm they become; but they still stay soft. I often pack one in my lunch bag for work days as they are a great quick and healthy snack between patients.

tips for the best homemade protein bars

• Use a vanilla protein powder that you love the taste of. I've never tried birthday cake protein powder, but know they make one. I imagine it would be amazing in these birthday cake flavored bars!
• Press the bars firmly into the bottom of the pan. I use a spatula, but the flat bottom of a measuring cup would also work well.
• If you prefer protein bites, cut the bars into bite size pieces. You can also roll the dough into protein balls, use 1-2 tablespoons of dough per ball. They can also be cut into larger bars.
• If you don't mind adding sugar, a light drizzle of white chocolate on the tops of these bars is amazing! Melt about an ounce of white chocolate and drizzle it over the dough before chilling it. To keep the bars with low sugar, Lily's Original White Chocolate Style Bars are my favorite. {if you need the protein bars to be vegan, make sure to use a vegan white chocolate}.

Remember to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram if you make these Birthday Cake Protein Bars. It warms my heart to see you bring these recipes to life! Thank you for being here and happy baking!

more homemade birthday cake flavored recipes

• Funfetti Ice Cream
• Funfetti Cookies {From Scratch}
• Sugar Cookie Sandwiches {Stuffed with Funfetti Frosting}
• One Bowl Funfetti Cupcakes

If you make this recipe {or any recipe!} from two sugar bugs please come back and leave a review and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating.  I read every comment, and I LOVE hearing from you!

Birthday Cake Protein Bars

recipe created and tested by:

Tasia Harper

Homemade birthday cake protein bars; they are no bake, vegan friendly, gluten free friendly and nut free! They come together in minutes in one bowl ~ mix, press in a pan and chill. These birthday cake flavored DIY protein bars are sure to become a favorite healthier breakfast or treat.

5 from 5 votes

I highly recommend using weight (metric) measurements when available for more accuracy and the best results.

Print Recipe rate this recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Chill Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 12 mini bars

Calories 163 kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Please note

When using 2x or 3x ingredients, the grams DO NOT adjust, you will have to manually do that.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ ⅓ cup quick oats* ground to flour 33g
• ▢ ½ cup sunflower seed butter** 128g
• ▢ ¼ cup pure maple syrup 60mL
• ▢ 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pure almond extract***
• ▢ ½ cup vanilla protein powder**** 51g
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ground flax seed 7g
• ▢ 3 tablespoons sprinkles 33g

Instructions

 

• Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.  Mine is 8x4 inches, but any typical loaf pan should work.
• Start by creating an oat flour by blitzing the quick oats (⅓ cup/33g) in a food processor or blender.  It should take less than a minute to take the oats to a pulverized and flour like consistency.
• In a bowl mix together the sunflower seed butter (½ cup/128g) and maple syrup (¼ cup/60mL) until fully combined.  Then add the vanilla (2 teaspoons) and almond extracts (½ teaspoon) and mix again until the mixture is smooth.
• Add the protein powder (½ cup/51g), flaxseed (1 tablespoon/7g) and ground oat flour (⅓ cup/33g) and mix until just a little flour/protein powder is still showing.  Then add in ¾ of the sprinkles and mix until a thick dough has formed.
• Press the birthday cake protein bar mixture into the prepared loaf pan in an even layer. Press FIRMLY into the pan. Then sprinkle the top with the remaining sprinkles, lightly pressing them into the homemade protein bars.
• Place the loaf pan into the refrigerator for a minimum of one hour to firm up.  Once firm, slice into the desired size bars.  The longer the bars chill, the more firm they become, although they will continue to remain soft.

Notes

*If you need the homemade protein bars to be gluten free, make sure your oats are certified gluten free. An oat flour can also be substituted, but again, make sure it's gluten free if you need that dietary constraint.

**I use sunflower seed butter as both my girls have classmates with nut allergies.  If you aren’t worried about nut allergies cashew butter would be my next choice for a nut butter to use. Almond butter and peanut butter could be used, but the final taste will be different. Your nut butter should be a "drippy" butter made with just nuts (and salt, if you prefer).

***The almond extract helps to bring the birthday cake flavor to the recipe.  After testing multiple batches, my testers preferred ½ teaspoon, but anywhere between ¼ and ½ teaspoon will work.  If you absolutely cannot stand almond extract, you can substitute it with vanilla, but will lose a little of the birthday cake flavor.  I use Cooks Pure Almond extract, which is made from the pits of peaches and apricots and produced in an allergen free facility.  If you have a nut allergy, please do your own research if the almond extract is safe for you to use.

****The flavor of your protein powder is a prominent flavor in these birthday cake protein bars, be sure you like the protein powder you are using! I use both Trader Joe’s Vanilla Pea Protein Powder and Sprouts Vegan Vanilla Protein Powder.

Store bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.  I haven't tested freezing them, but think it would work fine.

Bars can be cut into whatever size you prefer.  They can also be rolled into balls or pressed into a mini muffin tin for a more bite size snack.

Recipe adapted from Jenna @butternutbakeryblog

Nutrition

Serving: 1 mini barCalories: 163kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 6gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 48mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7g

The nutrition information is based on third-party calculations, is an estimate only and may not be entirely accurate. Actual nutritional values will vary based on brands used and portion sizes.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Leave a comment and rating below! I love hearing from you!